Former Eagles K Akers agrees to deal with 49ers

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Five-time Pro Bowl kicker David Akers has agreed to a deal with the San Francisco 49ers, leaving the Philadelphia Eagles after 12 seasons.

Akers told The Associated Press on Thursday that his contract with the 49ers is for three years. Teams can’t officially sign — or announce — deals with free agents until Friday.

The move also assures the most accurate kicker in 49ers history, Joe Nedney, will not be back with the team. In six seasons with San Francisco, Nedney had an 86.6 percent accuracy on field goals — better than any 49ers player with at least 50 attempts.

Nedney made 28 of 34 field goals the past two seasons, ending each on injured reserve. The 38-year-old left-footed kicker had been bothered by knee injuries, although he was hopeful about signing with San Francisco under new coach Jim Harbaugh when he came to one of the team’s informal workouts this summer.

That return now seems unlikely.

Akers is coming off consecutive Pro Bowl seasons, and showed no signs of slowing down last year at age 36 by setting a career high with 23 touchbacks. But the Eagles drafted kicker Alex Henery in the fourth round, making Akers expendable.

Philadelphia had placed the transition tag on Akers before the NFL lockout, but that became invalid under the new labor agreement.

Akers has connected on 81.9 percent of his field goals and 98.7 percent of his extra points. He was cut by three teams before signing with the Eagles in 1999.

Akers went on to set the franchise record for points, field goals, extra points, games played in the regular season and in the playoffs. He was selected to the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 2000s, and only Morten Andersen (seven) and Jan Stenerud (six) have made more Pro Bowls among placekickers.